Nashville-bred husband-and-wife duo Johnnyswim make stories sing

Music is storytelling, and Abner Ramirez and Amanda Sudano make stories sing.

The husband and wife duo who front Johnnyswim is Nashville bred and Los Angeles based, and this weekend at Bonnaroo they will play four shows for their growing fan base.

"It's just so much fun," Sundano said after their performance Friday afternoon at the Solar Stage. "... Everybody's a listener."

Bonnaroo, Ramirez added, is really about discovering music.

In their acoustic set, a group of Bonnarooers discovered a little more about Johnnyswim during the song and storytelling session.

Sudano, the daughter of Grammy winner and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Donna Summer, went to high school at Nashville's Christ Presbyterian Academy and college at Vanderbilt University. Ramirez is from Jacksonville, and moved to Nashville to pursue music.

The couple met in Music City and started writing songs together.

In true storytelling fashion, the duo tells fish stories about its name.

In February, they told Vogue magazine that the Wikipedia entry suggesting it came from a line in the movie "Jaws" was made up. In that same article they said the name really came from Sudano’s goldfish when she was a kid. The fish died and floated to the top of the bowl, and before her mom could get rid of it Sudano yelled, “No wait — he’s alive. Johnny, swim.”

At Bonnaroo, Ramirez had a different tale. He said the name came from his wife's childhood when her middle school mascot -- a shark -- fell into a pool. All the kids yelled at poor Johnny to swim. Meanwhile, Sudano slipped into the pool trying to save him.

"It's embarrassing," she said.

There are sure to be more versions of the story in the future -- a form of amusement for a couple that works and plays together and loves every bit.

Married in 2009, Sudano says "We enjoy doing life together."

On stage, as their voices harmonize in a way both hypnotic and sweet, their chemistry is obvious.

The duo invites the audience in with stories and song, sweeping between Cuban and country, folk music and rock.

"The magic in music is you can capture a moment of feeling and replicate it," Ramirez told the Bonnaroo crowd.

The duo has an EP to be released Tuesday and has a new album set to come out in January.

Their favorite way to write songs is at home (which right now is L.A. with frequent trips to Nashville) where Sudano can wear sweatpants and cook while Ramirez drinks whiskey, they told the crowd.

They are inspired by everything from movies they watch to breakups between friends.

While the people who listen to their music and the stages where they play may change, "sitting on the couch with a guitar and the one you love stays the same," Ramirez said.